Section 5 of the Defamation Act, 1952

32.Gray J further states (rightly, it is submitted) at 13.167 that to invoke section 5 of the Defamation Act, 1952 in respect of any libels which they fail to justify, the Defendants have to prove that such libels do not materially injure Irving's reputation compared with the defamatory charges which they succeed in justifying. Gray J accepted that the Defendants succeeded on section 5.

33.One of the three defamatory charges which the Defendants wholly failed to justify was "Lipstadt's claim that Irving was scheduled to speak at an anti-Zionist conference in Sweden in 1992, which was also to-be attended by various representatives of terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas." (Per Gray J at 13.166).

34.It is submitted that this libel is so very grave that, as a matter of law, section 5 does not avail the Defendants, even if Irving fails on every other issue.